And How Do You Like Your Coffee?
by Happy Stalker Ball
Summary: Short, sweet, simple. Two people with troubled pasts find a certain degree of comfort with each other. Kurt/Wanda-ish


A/N: Tried my best. Sorry for any mistakes regarding coffee flavors, please just go with it. If you're confused about why I chose to have these two in a couplish situation please look up TJ Wagner from Exiles. Please leave a review if you like it. **Slightly edited 07/14/2009**

**OoOoO**

"You'd like some coffee?" A waitress' voice sliced through Wanda's thoughts. Wanda nodded as she looked up at the waitress, a college girl. The girl shifted uncomfortably and averted her eyes from the glaring customer.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the waitress cleared her throat. "...And how would you like your coffee?"

Wanda's eyes stayed trained on the waitress as she stated what she wanted. "Strong. Bitter." She told the girl as her gaze intensified. The waitress raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something, but one fleeting glance at Wanda quickly prompted her to clamp her mouth shut and not question the customer. She gave a curt nod and stalked off towards the kitchen.

**OoOoO**

_The customer's always right. The customer's always right. The customer's always right, _Lisa chanted to herself as she entered the kitchen. She made a beeline for the coffee machine. She began making coffee, unsure if she was doing it right. "Strong and bitter? Well, that's a first," she muttered to herself. "Sounds like someone has some issues." She continued toiling with the coffee trying her best to make what she thought was strong and bitter coffee. "Maybe 'strongly bitter?'" She mumbled. "Maybe the girl's just having an off day..." she mused as she finished up with the coffee.

_Just smile and be nice, s_he told herself as she left the kitchen.

**OoOoO**

Wanda tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her coffee. How long did it take to fix a cup of coffee for pete's sake?

As if on cue, the waitress appeared and handed Wanda a mug of coffee. "Enjoy." She smiled, pushing her cart towards another table.

_Fake smile, _Wanda noted with a frown. She sipped her coffee, the grim and angry expression only progressing to a new level of "stay-away-from-me-or-else."

_Time to figure out how to repay 'Daddy dearest' and 'loving brother' for their 'good deeds,'_ she thought, staring into her steaming coffee. _Let's see, I just have to figure out the best way to use my powers. I have the power to affect probability, so if I make Magneto's helmet rust off or fall off or something--that would probably boost my probability of defeating him. But..._

Wanda sighed and let her thoughts trail off. She'd been over these plans a million times. However, there was always one flaw and it was always the same. What if her powers backfired? They had done it so many times before. _Or more accurately,_ she thought bitterly, _I still don't have total control over them._

She looked up and sighed, shaking her head. Why couldn't she just learn to control them? She sipped her coffee again before slamming it back onto the table in frustration. Some coffee swished around and trickled down the sides of the mug. _Oh, yes, making noises with the coffee cup is really going to help,_ she thought, annoyed with herself. She sighed again and stared miserably into her coffee.

**OoOoO**

"Hey," Lisa's coworker, Andy, nudged her, "look at that," he hissed, pointing. Lisa looked up from the order she'd been fixing and at the customer Andy was pointing at. The customer, a young boy, _did _look rather....**odd**. He wore a trench coat, garden gloves, and black combat boots to complete his outfit.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, he does look kinda funny," she whispered to the amused Andy. "Kinda strange to be wearing a coat and gloves midsummer. Even if it is evening."

Andy kept his eyes focused on the out of the ordinary customer. "Even in evening all you need is a light jacket-and you sure as heck don't need gloves. And that boy has definitely not been doing any garden work." Andy leaned closer to Lisa and whispered, half excited, half scared, "Bet he's a mutant and doesn't want to be touched." Lisa shrugged, but nodded, not doubting Andy's theory.

**OoOoO**

Kurt surveyed the café trying to scope out a place to sit. A group of people were obviously celebrating something or another towards the entrance, at the 'Order Here' counter a group of guys were laughing while watching a football game on a small television, towards the back a young group of people were enjoying a double date, a lone girl occupied a window table, a family of four sat at another window table, and two buds occupied the last window table. In the middle of the café a couple in their mid twenties stared dreamily at each other. At a table not too far off from them, a group of girls kept making eyes at the two guys sitting at one of the window tables. There were two open tables in the middle of the café, but Kurt didn't move towards them. Instead he moved towards the "Order Here" counter.

_Zhere is no vay I'm going to sit at one of zose two zables,_ he thought fiercely. He wanted to be off alone where he wouldn't be noticed. It would be hard for people not to notice him sitting by himself at one table that was meant for six people. The other table wasn't much better. It was meant for four people. And in the middle of the café! That practically screamed, "Look at me!" _And I don't vant anyone looking at me tonight!_

"What can I get for you?" The server's cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts. She smiled brightly at him, and he offered her a weak smile in return. _Maybe one of ze people by the window vill have left by ze time I get my order, _he thought hopefully. The window tables always did seem to be meant for loners or lovers, and tonight he was definitely in the former category. He ordered some coffee cake along with milk.

She arched an eyebrow. "No coffee?" She asked, surprised.

Kurt paused. He really didn't want any, but what could it hurt? He shrugged. "Guess so," he muttered. After a few moments of silence, he glanced up at the girl. _Vhy hasn't she told me how much zis costs yet?_ He thought annoyed, throwing a frantic glance at the window tables. No one had left yet! The girl waited uncomfortably before clearing her throat.

"...And how do you like your coffee?" She asked, trying not to let her annoyance show. _Honestly,_ she thought. _This is the __**fourth **__time today! Don't people know how many types of coffee there are?_

Kurt scratched his head, unsure how he liked his coffee. "Uh, vith sugar?" He looked at her with pleading eyes. She shrugged and told him the price.

"Be ready in a bit," she told him. He nodded and stepped aside, allowing the next group in line to order their stuff. One quick glance around the room caused his heart to beat wildly. No one had left the window tables! And to make matters worse, one of the two vacant tables had been occupied by a rather large group, and someone was sitting at the other table obviously expecting others to join him. Kurt threw a glance at the people in line.

_Vhere am I going to sit?_ His mind raced, trying to figure out what to do once he got his order. Why did small things in life like trying to find a place to eat cause people to panic? It made no sense! _Okay, maybe I can get my stuff and go back to ze Institute. _He shook his head. He had come here in order to get **away** from the Institute. Kitty had taken up her on again, off again thing with Lance much to Scott's annoyance. Kurt sighed. _And right now, it's one of zose 'off again' moments._

He felt kind of bad about fleeing from the mansion when Kitty had banged on his door after a shouting match she'd had with Lance over the phone. He knew she'd wanted to talk, but he just wanted to be _alone._

_Just for one night, anyway,_ he thought grimly. _It was one whole year ago tonight._ He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. He could think about that after he dealt with his current crisis.

"Hey, dude," someone tapped Kurt on the shoulder. Kurt jumped and whirled around quickly, glaring at the culprit. Then he remembered he had his jacket on and relaxed a bit. _No one can feel my, uh, __**unique**__ skin, _he reminded himself. "Hey, man," the guy spoke again. Kurt looked at him, perplexed. Then it hit him. It was a waiter! With his food!

"Stuff's ready, man," the waiter was starting to look a tad uncomfortable holding out a tray of food and having no one accept it. "Your food," the waiter pushed it towards Kurt. Kurt grabbed it and nodded, muttering a "thank-you" in the process.

He turned around, trying to determine the best place he could sit. After a few moments of inner turmoil he came to his decision. The loner by the window table. After all, she did seem like the best company seeing how he wanted to be left alone, and obviously the girl _was_ alone. So long as she wasn't crying or anything, everything would be fine. He'd leave her alone and she'd leave him alone. _Perfect,_ Kurt thought as he hesitantly approached the table.

**OoOoO**

Wanda didn't glance up as someone approached her table. After all, she didn't think that any person would have the _nerve_ to actually _sit_ at her table. However, she was proven wrong when that person decided to plop down in the chair across from hers. She kept her eyes on her coffee, hoping her silence would scare the unwanted guest away. She couldn't believe one of Xavier's goody-two-shoes mutants had the gall to sit down at her table. He must've been really distracted. She sure hoped he wasn't planning to give her some speech in hopes of converting her over to their ways. No, that didn't make any sense. She kept her head down. Her bangs fell into her face, obscuring a good portion of it. _It's been awhile, _she thought, _he must not have recognized me yet. Boy, is he going to be in for a surprise. _

Kurt stared at the girl across from him nervously. For some reason, she looked vaguely familiar. He just couldn't figure out why. She had yet to say a word or look at him for that matter. Kurt shrugged. _Ah, vell, I can deal vith silence._ After all, that _was_ why he had come here. But he did feel obligated to introduce himself.

After a couple more uneasy minutes passed over them, he cleared his throat. Wanda rolled her eyes, but didn't lift her head. _Great, now Institute boy is going to speak. What's he doing here, anyway? _She thoughtfuriously.

"Um, I hope you don't mind if I join you at zis cozy leetle table..." Kurt let his voice trail, trying to explain his intrusion. It seemed like she didn't want to hear it. _Not the varmest velcome, heh?_ he thought, picking up where he left off, "..but all ze ozzer tables were full, and you looked like you could use some company." He still got no response. "I von't bother you," he held up his hands in defeat, "I just needed a place to zit and zink."

Wanda sighed, exasperated. "So did I," she told him evenly, lifting her head and making eye contact with him. Kurt nearly fell out of his chair.

"W-W-Wanda?" he squeaked, shocked. _What's __**she**__ doing here?!_ It had been a good while since any of the X-men had seen Wanda. It was like she had up and disappeared. He found the fact that she was still around kind of unnerving. Her hair had grown out some, stopping just before her shoulders. And she was still wearing gothic type stuff, just a different outfit.

_Vell, zat explains vhy I didn't recognize her,_ Kurt thought, a tad panicked. Maybe he should just get up and leave.... he shook his head. He didn't want to go back to the Institute yet, and most other places were closed by now.

Wanda watched Kurt's reaction to her with a half-hearted interest. She really couldn't care less that he was shocked by her sudden appearance in Bayville. However, she was slightly annoyed that he had found her. She had wanted to keep a low profile until she'd found her father and brother.

_Let my guard down for two minutes and a stupid 'love the humans' mutant shows up. _Wanda shook her head and sipped her coffee, watching Kurt recover from his sudden shock attack. _Maybe now that he knows who I am, he'll just leave, _she thought, hopefully. Of course, then he'd run and tell the rest of the X-men, and the Brotherhood would find out, and from them, her father and brother. She glared at the offending mutant. Why couldn't he just stay with the rest of those peace mutants instead of wondering around?

Kurt blinked a few time just to be sure he wasn't seeing things. _Nope, it's Wanda._ He stared, unsure what to do now. "Um, so vhere have you been?" he asked, weakly. After all, there was no reason he couldn't _attempt_ to make conversation. Her glare didn't ease up and she refused to answer.

"My business is mine," she stated simply. _So, leave!_

"Sorry," Kurt mumbled, taking a bite of his cake. After he swallowed, he looked at her apologetically. "I von't bother you, really," he promised. "I just needed to get out for a little while," he started, glancing around as if making sure no one could hear them.

Wanda groaned, inwardly. She could already see what was coming. _He's gonna use me as some sort of psychiatrist and dump all his emotions on me! Great, just flipping great! This guy really was a tool!_

Sure enough, Kurt had already started to drone on about something. "And zen, Keety started crying again..." Wanda half listened, her mind somewhere else, or more specifically her mind on two certain individuals. Kurt continued talking, completely happy just to get everything out in the open. "..Zen, she began crying _again_ so Rogue offered to zake her out, but zat only made her cry harder!" He didn't feel as if this story would reveal any crucial information to the enemy. She probably knew all this through Lance, anyway.

_Okay, if I get Magneto's helmet off...what would I do next? And what am I going to do about my brother? Defeating and humiliating him shouldn't be too hard..._Suddenly a little voice popped into Wanda's mind. _But do you want to? _It questioned her about her brother. Wanda frowned. That stupid voice! Why wouldn't it leave her **alone?!**

Kurt continued talking. "Zen zey vere everywhere! Vith torches and rocks!" He exclaimed, his voice low. Wanda snapped out of her vengeful reverie and paid more attention to Kurt.

_Not a bad idea- with the torches and rocks- might come in handy,_ she thought, giving Kurt some attention. She had the distinct impression he was no longer going about Kitty, Scott, or Lance.

"It vas zerrible! I thought I vas gonna die! And zey kept screaming zese horrible names at me!" Kurt shivered and hugged himself. Why was he telling Wanda all this anyway? He had meant to stop at Kitty and Lance's problem, but once he opened his mouth, he just couldn't get it closed again. He shrugged. Wasn't like she was listening...that much was obvious. "Zen ze fire kept getting hozzer and hozzer, but zen time stopped!" He snapped his fingers. "Just like zat! Ze professor stopped time and brought me over to ze Institute." Kurt hugged himself tighter. "All one year ago today..." he let his voice trial off, lost in the past.

Wanda rolled her eyes, irritated. _Everyone's got their own sob story,_ she silently told him, but, of course, he didn't hear. He did, however, notice the eyerolling.

"Vhat?" he demanded. "You act like I made zat up!" She had actually been listening? He shivered, suddenly regretting saying anything at all, or leaving the Institute for that matter-a crying Kitty was much better than a creepy Wanda.

"No," Wanda said, staring at him from over the rim of her coffee cup, "I was just thinking about how everyone has their own sob story."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh, and vhat's yours?"

Wanda glared at him. "Like my business, my sob story is mine and no one else's. I know what I want and it's not pity from anybody," she declared.

"And you zink people vould pity you?" he asked, hoping to get something out of her. Maybe if he could open her up a bit, he'd understand why she was always so standoffish.

"That's prying," she stated, simply. Kurt sighed, ready to give up when a sudden thought popped into his head.

"Vell, _vhat_ do you vant?" he asked, curiously. He made eye contact with her again and noticed something a bit different about her eyes. One had to look hard to see, but it was definitely there. They seemed almost lively- almost like they were laughing at his attempts to pry into her life.

"That would be prying, too," she stated, keeping eye contact. Kurt averted his eyes, shifting uncomfortably.

"Guess so," he muttered to the table. He glanced around, trying to think of something else to say. Maybe one last question. _After all, vhat could it hurt?_ he wondered. "So, uh, how long do you zink it vill be before you get vhat you vant?" he asked. After all, that wasn't really prying was it?

Wanda didn't respond, and after a few moments he looked up at her and nearly fell off his chair. That glint in her eyes was still there, but now it looked like the corners of her mouth were trying to tug her lips upwards into a smile! "Still prying," she stated, bemused.

Kurt stood up, finished with his cake and drink. "Oh, um," he stumbled, unsure what to say, "vell, it was nice talking to you... maybe ve could do zis again sometime, no?" he smiled sheepishly.

Wanda's eyes sparkled with amusement as she looked up at him. "Maybe."

"Um, ja, maybe," Kurt glanced around some more, trying to decide what to do.

Wanda continued to stare at him, making him shift his weight around under her stare. There was nothing more amusing than making someone unsure of themselves, she thought, and watching Kurt, it _was_ pretty funny. When she made her brother uncomfortable he tried to run away- the other brotherhood members went and hid. Actually, it seemed everyone ran or hid, or did both. _Except Toad, _she thought, remembering the boy's obsession with her. Kurt, though, just stood there as though waiting for her to dismiss him. _Maybe he __**is**__ waiting for me to dismiss him_! Wanda thought, amused.

Kurt continued looking around, feeling very, very uncomfortable. _Can't she at least say bye? _he thought, trying to escape her intense gaze. He didn't want to be rude and just leave before she said 'bye' but this was getting ridiculous! He glanced down at her, but she still made no response. Shivers went down his spine, and he smiled meekly hoping she'd say something. _Anything,_ he pleaded silently with her.

Suddenly it hit Wanda. _He __**is**__ waiting for me._ This thought made it even harder for her not to smile. She cleared her throat, and looked Kurt in the eyes. "Maybe we can do this again sometime," she told him evenly, "_maybe_."

That was a good enough 'good-bye' for Kurt even if wasn't a 'real' good- bye. It seemed she was just going to keep repeating the 'maybe' thing, and not say _anything _final. He nodded quickly, happy for her to have finally said something.

"Ja, maybe- vell, I've got to go!" With a quick wave of the hand, he hustled towards the exit of the café, happy to be free of Wanda's antagonizing gaze. Before he left though, he threw one last glance at the girl and, for the seemingly umpteenth time that night tried to hide his shock. She was still looking straight at him, but now she really _was_ smiling! Kurt hesitated by the door, then smiled back at her, threw open the door and quickly left.

_Zat was just too weird,_ he thought, as he teleported to the Institute. _Vait'll ze ozzers hear about zis_! He thought, excitedly, but his excitement was quick to vanish. _On second thought..._

He tried to imagine how the others would react. They probably wouldn't be too happy he'd been conversing with the "enemy" and, besides, what were the chances that they'd actually believe Wanda had been being........_**had**_ she been being nice? Now that he thought about it, he'd done all the talking. He slapped his forehead. _Great._ He had revealed to her his troubled past and fears because....**_why_** had he told her?! He shook his head. _Maybe I should just keep quiet about zis..._He only hoped Wanda would do the same....

Wanda stared at the door where the other mutant had just exited. Her smile, though small, was one of the first genuine smiles she'd flashed in a long time. He _had_ been waiting for her to dismiss him-if only her brother would do that! She had to admit it was rather sweet, if slightly annoying. But at least he had taken the hint and left! She had wanted to be by herself with her plans to seriously hurt her brother and father after everything they'd done to her!

Now, though, deep down, something in her wouldn't have minded if he'd stuck around a little longer... Maybe they _would_ have to do this again sometime she thought, a small smile still on her lips.

"Ma'am?" the server's voice pierced through her thoughts. Wanda's smile vanished, but amusement still shone through her eyes despite attempts to hide it. She looked up, waiting for him to continue. It was a different server now. He smiled down at her and winked. "Would you like some more coffee?" He indicated her empty cup. She nodded as she handed it to him. Without missing a beat, he winked again and asked, "And how do you like your coffee, miss?"

Wanda paused for a moment. She stole a glance at the exit, then met the waiter's eyes. Amusement still shone through her dark eyes as she told the waiter what she wanted. "Strong," she felt her mouth tug upwards as she finished ordering, "Sweet."

**OoOoO**


End file.
